A rifle-shot of a novel – crisp, fast, shocking – The Shepherd’s Hutis an urgent masterpiece about solitude, unlikely friendship, and the raw business of survival.

Jaxie dreads going home. His mum’s dead. The old man bashes him without mercy, and he wishes he was an orphan. But no one’s ever told Jaxie Clackton to be careful what he wishes for.

In one terrible moment his life is stripped to little more than what he can carry and how he can keep himself alive. There’s just one person left in the world who understands him and what he still dares to hope for. But to reach her he’ll have to cross the vast saltlands on a trek that only a dreamer or a fugitive would attempt.

The Shepherd’s Hut is a searing look at what it takes to keep love and hope alive in a parched and brutal world.